Return to Work
Reflect, plan your re-entry, and get clear on what you want, and your fallback position.
Your Right to Request Flexible Working
You have the legal right to request flexible working from day one in your job. Your employer must consider it fairly and respond, usually within three months. You can ask about start/finish times, working days, hybrid or remote working, job sharing, or compressed/reduced hours.
Types of Flexible Working
What You Want, and Your Fallback
Get clear on both before the conversation, so you're negotiating from a plan, not improvising.
My Phased Return Plan
Back to Work Meeting
First 90 Days Back
Most planning stops at the return date, but the transition really happens over the following weeks. This breaks it into phases rather than one long list.
Weeks 1–2: Reorientate
Weeks 3–6: Rebuild
Weeks 7–12: Review
Your Real Working Day
Contracted hours can look manageable on paper until you add the commute, drop-off, and everything either side. This shows your actual day, start to finish.
Do I Want to Return?
There's a real difference between not wanting to return and feeling anxious about returning, this is just a space to notice which one it is, not to push you toward either choice.
Identity Reset
Returning to work while being someone's mum can mean holding several identities at once. A few prompts, no pressure to have tidy answers.
Career Protection Plan
Separate from redundancy, this is about staying visible for the opportunities you actually want.
Reimagining Your Working Life
Not "should I quit", just what you'd design if you were starting from scratch.
Confidence Journal
Confidence often lags behind competence when you return, these are optional, skip any that don't land.